


Reunion

by brightclearline



Series: Marco Stark [1]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-03 16:51:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1751792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightclearline/pseuds/brightclearline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark gets a visitor after New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

I’d been expecting this. But I hadn’t expected Jake.

He hadn’t changed. Well, he’d filled out, bulked up, and he looked like he might actual be able to do some damage with those muscles.

But his eyes. They hadn’t changed. Guess it was hard to look much older than Jake had at the end of the war.

“Well, this is a surprise.” I tried to laugh, but it sounded tinny and fake. “After the last few times, I really expected someone a little more -” I held my hands out from my chest suggestively, considered, then moved them a little further away.

Jake laughed, just like I knew he would, and, for just a split second, everything was ok. I could do this. I could pretend we were just old buddies catching up, I could just laugh along and pretend –

Nope. The moment had passed. Couldn’t do it.

Jake had started some sort of witty comeback – something about his curves not being enough for me – but I cut him off before he could finish.

“What do you want, Jake?”

His jaw snapped shut, but he didn’t seem surprised. Guess I wasn’t the only one a little weirded out here.

“You know why I’m here.”

“Is it my birthday already? I know you never forget one of those. And let me tell you, that last gift you got me was a _doozy_ so I fully expect some kind of gold-plated -”

“They wanted to send someone you could trust,” Jake said, patiently talking over my babbling. “Someone who could explain to you why this is important.”

“So they sent you.” I laughed. “Be real, Jake, they sent you here because they think you can order me around. What, does your file say ‘last person Tony Stark ever took orders from’?”

“I’m not here as your leader. I’m here as your friend.”

“Nooo, no, no, no, no, let’s get something straight here. We stopped being _friends_ around the time you sent a damn _card_ instead of showing up to my father’s funeral, we stopped being _acquaintances_ when you completely ignored my mother’s death, and I stopped acknowledging you as a _person_ when that radio silence lasted _twenty-three years_.”

He opened his mouth, but I cut him off savagely.

“And don’t give me any of that ‘I was busy saving the world’ crap, because I just damn well saved the world – again, I might add – and you _weren’t there_.”

I took a deep breath, suddenly wishing I was in the suit. I toyed with the bracelets I hadn’t removed since Loki had – since Loki.

“Look,” Jake said, “I’m not here to fight. You don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine. But we – they need to know that you’re not going to – ” He hesitated. “That you’re not going to break your contract.”

“Yeah, well, you can tell your bosses you did your job. I have no intention of ever talking or thinking about those slimy little creeps again – the Yeerks, I mean, sorry if I was little unclear there.” I picked my scotch up off the desk and downed it. “As far as I’m concerned, the Chitauri are the first aliens I’ve ever fought.”

Jake smiled sadly. “Look -”

“Aaaand we’re done here. Jarvis?” I tapped my bracelet. “Fire it up. Quicker this time.”

_“Yes, sir.”_

“Marco – ”

“Marco’s not here right now, Jake, but if you’d like to leave a message with _Tony_ , he’d be happy to tell you to go to hell.”

Something in my chest loosened as the armor settled around me. Jarvis opened a hatch in my office’s ceiling, and I fired up my thrusters.

Jake watched me hover, still smiling that sad little smile. “It was good to see you again, man.”

I bolted toward the open sky.


End file.
